Finally returned from the Arnold's in Ohio. This was a long, but exciting, weekend. Friday was weigh-ins along with meet-and-greet. I was happy to visit with some people from TA whom I have not seen in almost 2-years. All of attended the Joe Lewis seminar and learned some new material. After the seminar, I ran into Mr. Shonie Carter and talked with him for quite a while. I was never a big fan of Mr. Carter until talking with him; he is a genuinely nice guy. Also got to talk with "Nasty" Anderson as well. Mr. Anderson may be "old" but he is still in incredible shape.
All the events took place on Saturday and Sunday. They had an anticipated 17,000 competitors in all the events; place was packed. Team LDMA did great: Nicky won her division with International Rules (IR) and Hawkins won both San Shou rules and Full Contact rules. Mrs. Snyder had to fight in Full Contact rules because there weren't enough people in her division for IR. It amazes me how many people don't like leg kicks. She lost on a split decision. Really makes you mad when the referee comes over and says "don't know how that was judged, I can only be a referee". We just have to work on her power for knockouts because judges will not see it her way. The video says it all. Mrs. Snyder also stepped up to do an exhibition with San Shou rules to gain more experience with clinchwork, knee strikes, and takedowns. She busted her opponents nose up pretty good and backed off because it was only an exebition.
During the day, I ran into some Team ROC guys who were kickboxing as well. We had a great time visiting and talking about MMA schools "popping" up everywhere in NC. It was nice to see their team did well in boxing, Muai Thai, and San Shou rules fighting. I also got about 3 feet away from Arnold (himself). Go figure my camera had the batteries in backwards and didn't work.
I did get to see the Kettlebell competition and was highly impressed. There was a 15-year old who did 205 snatch reps in a 10 minute period with a 35lb bell. The Kettlebell Association is getting me some information on training exercises, etc so we can incorporate in our training regiments.
Congratulations also needs to go to Mr. Joe Lewis for receiving the "Lifetime Achievement Award" at the event. His booth, at the event, stayed busy the whole time with people asking questions about fighting methodologies. Mr. Lewis still proves himself to be one of the most knowledgeable people in the fight community.
Finally got home Sunday and made preparations for this week's classes. I look forward to showing all programs some new material to work on.